A Day To Remember
by Morrigue
Summary: It's 1990 and twelve year old Tasha is a huge fan of The Vampire Diaries. When she bumps into her heroes at Hampton Court Palace one day and opens a big can of worms
1. Chapter 1

Tasha was an unsociable geek when she was twelve, always down the local library with her head in a book instead of going out with her friends. In August 1990, Tasha had come back from a weeks's holiday at a holiday camp on the Somerset coast with my family and had just discovered an author called L.J Smith who wrote about vampires, witches and shape shifters finding their soulmates. They lived in the NightWorld which was full of rules for protecting them from the human world and also forbidding them from revealing themselves to humans, so to have a human soulmate meant that most of the people were outcasts.

Tasha was entranced by her writing but there was one series in particular that was her favourite, that caught her imagination and a certain character in it who made her heart flutter. The Vampire Diaries, three books about a girl who Tasha would never be- Elena Gilbert and the two vampire brothers who were battling for her affections- Stefan Salvatore- the younger of the two whom Elena loved and Damon Salvatore- the older brother who wanted her because she was Stefan's and because she had a great deal of inner strength and would be a suitable match for him as his 'queen of the night.'

Right now, Tasha was trying to work her way through the Night World series of books by ordering them through her library as they seemed to be scattered around the borough and so she had to wait for them and then there was the question of order- it was driving her mad. Tasha was driving her Mum mad as well and her younger sister was driving Tasha mad, so it was Tasha who was sent off to stay with her Dad for a week as punishment.

Her father worked all day and had separated from her mother a couple of years ago, it bored her stiff as not knowing the area she generally stayed indoors and watched telly but even then the house was old and draughty, so today she decided to walk through Bushy Park to Hampton Court Palace and have a look around with the money her Dad gave her.

It was a long walk to the palace and it took her a couple of hours so she got there at midday, then she found out that she just had a couple of pounds left for food which was just about enough to get her a blueberry muffin to eat as she wandered into the first courtyard known as Base Court. She sat down on the floor in a corner and started to tuck in, watching the Jester draw crowds by running up and grabbing people.

She watched as he ran up to a couple of fit looking boys in t-shirts who were a lot older than Tasha- then he ran away without them even saying no, he went up to another person who said no and there was a moment of protest when the Jester pleaded and then he gave up and moved on, but with the two boys he ran up to them and ran away- that was odd.

They started to walk towards Tasha, but they were deep in conversation and didn't even notice her, the older one seemed to be pissed because his little brother was tagging along. "I didn't ask you to tag along, if you don't want to be here then no one's forcing you, brother."

"I'm coming with you whether you like it or not Damon, you know why." The younger one said, Tasha went to gasp and ended up choking just as they walked past her, they both looked at her in surprise, she looked up at them in shock and suddenly remembered the book she had next to her. She went to grab it but Damon got there first, "what's this? How do you know who we are?" he asked in a low hiss. Stefan was standing next to Damon looking shocked as he saw the book, he kept staring at Tasha who got up and had trouble talking at first, "that's the second book in a series called the Vampire Diaries. There are three books and they're based on Elena's diaries." She looked at Stefan who winced at the sound of her name, but he was in vampire mode and started interrogating her, "what's your name?"

"Natasha- Tasha Richardson."

"Okay Tasha, you know who I am then?" Tasha nodded, "I promise you we won't hurt you so don't be scared. But could you tell me where you got them from?" Stefan asked, Damon bent the book back to read it properly. "Can you not do that to my book please? You're going to break the spine," Damon looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Tasha looked back at him pointedly, Damon relinquished and continued to read the book without bending the book so far. "Sorry, I got them from 'Smiths, it's a chain of bookshops that sells stationary as well," Stefan nodded and looked at Damon, waiting for the book.

"So how comes you're here then?" Damon's face had become a rigid mask and Tasha suddenly remembered the content of the book, she wondered if Damon would let Stefan read it and if Stefan would go mad at Damon once he found out. She tried to distract Stefan, it worked for a couple of seconds, "hmm? Oh, we're just here for today, to stretch our legs after the flight from America. We're flying back to Florence tomorrow, Damon wanted to come here and see the palace for some reason."

"I've seen all I want. I don't know about you brother but I'm getting hungry and this is full of rubbish anyway." He shoved the book back at Tasha who took it from him, "I suggest you get out of my sight while I'm in a good mood," he said to her, she nodded and went to pick up her muffin, but Stefan stepped in. "That's not very polite, may I read?" Stefan asked Tasha, who suddenly felt like a rabbit caught in the headlights. "I, er," she looked pleading at Damon, Stefan caught her glance. "What? You don't want me to read the book do you Tasha? Why not?" he asked her gently.

"Do you remember when Elena took blood from Matt after she turned? And you were really upset that she'd blood from Damon as well and although she was confused she loved Damon and not you? And Matt said not to judge her until you knew all the facts" Stefan's eyes widened and Damon's did a little bit as well.

"Yes," he said warily.

"Well the facts are in this one, but they're not good. They might make you angry and hurt you, so will you promise me that you won't do anything to Damon if I let you read it?" Stefan looked at his elder brother long and hard, Damon looked for all the while as if it were water off a duck's back.


	2. Chapter 2

"I could just go out and buy myself the three of them you know," Stefan was amused that a little girl should be trying to make him promise not to hurt Damon because of a book, "aren't you a little young for all this anyway? Don't they give you nightmares?" he asked, now it was Tasha's turn to be amused. "I'm twelve and I've read part of The Rats by Stephen King when I was nine. I've read Point Horror but there were only a couple that I liked- The Boyfriend and April Fools. If you want to go and but the whole series then fine, I can't stop you. If you want to borrow my copy then you're going to have to promise me that you won't get into a fight with Damon." Stefan's eyebrows were almost in his hair, Damon was looking very amused, "I'd lend you the other two but you're going to Florence tomorrow so you won't have time to read them and by the time I walk back home and get back here the palace will be shut anyway."

Damon and Stefan exchanged glances, Stefan frowned at Damon and then shrugged his shoulders. Damon broke out into a wolfish grin, "where do you live Tasha?"

"I'm staying at my Dad's house, the books are there. He lives in Hampton." Damon continued to grin, Tasha was struggling to keep her mind blank. She had recognised the pair of them and thought about trying to hide the book, that's why Damon had pounced in the book, right now she was loving the wolfish grin and knew that he could hear her heart skip beats every time he even so much as looked at her, she didn't want to have thoughts about it as well, that would get her into serious trouble. "How would you like a ride in a Ferrari?" Tasha nearly passed out, Stefan grinned and then started staring at the floor trying to hide it. "To get the books? Okay, it's only down the road by car, first left at the roundabout."

Damon motioned to her, Tasha gave the book in her hand to Stefan and ran after Damon who was already walking towards the exit.

She suddenly became very shy and tongue tied, she had no idea what to say to him. They got in the car and Damon grinned at her as he revved the engine, the traffic wasn't very bad and Damon put his foot down once they were on the straight road for a minute to give Tasha a bit of a ride, then they hit traffic and the thrill was over.

"He's going to go mad at you when you get back," she said to Damon, he winked at Tasha, "I can handle him, there's nothing to worry about."

"So how comes you wanted to go to Hampton Court today?" I asked him, " I wanted to see the old place again. I spent of bit time here when Elizabeth was queen, it's changed a great deal."

"Damon, do you know anything about the Night World?" she asked him casually, Damon nearly crashed the car in shock. "How do you know about the Night World?" he asked.

"The woman who wrote Vampire Diaries has written another series of books based on the Night World. I've only read a couple so far, but they're quite good as well. I quite like Soulmate about Thierry and Hannah, she's so lucky living in Montana and with Paleo. Parents and what's with that Quinn character? It sounds as though he looks a lot like you right down to the eyes- that's weird don't you think?" Tasha was still nervous and had taken to burning Damon's ear about Night World, Damon wasn't impressed.

"I have no idea who you're talking about, I've never even been to Vegas."

"Two things. One, it's second left and Dad's house is about halfway along. There's probably no spaces so you'll have to wait in the car, two, I didn't say anything about Las Vegas." Tasha looked very smug with herself and even managed a grin at Damon, who suddenly looked quite angry. "I just wanted to know if they were real, if you two are real and everything that happened in those books is real then are we really in danger from Hunter Redfern and the fourth wild power?"

"I have no idea and to be honest I don't care. Is this is?" Tasha answered a quiet yes and they drove down the narrow road with cars parked on each side until she told him to stop. "There's a car park at the end of the road if the gate's open, or else you could turn around in the business park, but I'll only be a couple of minutes."

She got out the car and ran to the house, once in the porch she got the old golf club that was standing there and ran it along the top edge of the front door until the spare key dropped down, then she let herself in the house and ran upstairs to the spare room where after rummaging around in the sports bag she found The Awakening and The Fury, then she ran downstairs and into the kitchen where she silently cursed her Dad and his wife for being veggie health freaks- no chocolate and no snacks, she was starving and had no money to get anything with. Tasha sighed and slammed the cupboard door shut, she'd have to make do with what was left of the muffin if Stefan hadn't thrown it.

Then she heard Damon in her head. "_I'll give you some money to get something to eat. Just get out here, I'm parked in the middle of the road."_ Tasha sighed and ran out the house, putting the spare key in her pocket and grabbing a pen from the dining table.

She got in the car and was still trying to put her seat belt on when Damon reversed at speed into the business park.

"Why the pen?" He asked, Tasha looked surprised, Damon just looked at where he was going. "I can see it sticking out of your jeans and I can feel your surprise," Tasha laughed.

"I figured you can feel my surprise, I wasn't sure about the pen.

I was wondering if you could sign the books for me." She blushed as he gave her a surprised look, then he laughed very loudly and for such a long time that she blushed even more. "You have a thing for my brother don't you?" It was Tasha's turn to laugh hard and loud.

"I gather I was mistaken then," said Damon as Tasha's laughter died. Tasha looked at Damon and burst into a fit of the giggles again, leaving Damon rolling his eyes.

Tasha eventually calmed down just as they were approaching the palace. Damon found a parking space and switched off the engine, he pushed his seat back and turned to Tasha, "I'd be delighted to sign your books my dear." Tasha gave him the books and got the pen out of her pocket, she handed it over to him, took a deep breath and said "actually Damon, you're my favourite. Not Stefan." Damon's hand paused, he looked at Tasha with a raised eyebrow and laughed for a bit making her go bright red, then with a brilliant smile, wrote something in both books and handed them back to her with a wink, "no peeking until I've signed the book that my brother's got." Tasha sighed and accepted the books back from Damon, who laughed at her disappointment.


	3. Chapter 3

They got out of the car and started walking towards the Palace entrance, Damon put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a £20 note which he gave to Tasha. Go get yourself something to eat and meet us by the fountain in the gardens, that way we get to read the books as well." Tasha nodded and as Damon walked away she called him back, when he didn't come she ran up to him. "Damon, The Struggle, I mean book two. That's got everything that happened between you and Elena in it. Right from the moment she met you in the graveyard to the dream she had about you, Stefan's going to be pretty pissed as she didn't tell him any of it." Damon smiled at her and gave her a wink, "thanks for the heads up kiddo. Now you go and get something to eat, I'll take care of Stefan."

Tasha went into the first shop opposite the ticket area and was directed to the Privy Kitchen café as the nearest place to eat, which meant going back through where she met Damon and Stefan.

She weighed up the pros and cons and decided not to risk it, so she went to the gardens to find the Tiltyard café, hoping she wouldn't see them.

Meanwhile Damon had caught up with Stefan in base court who was standing there not looking very happy, still reading the book. He looked up and saw Damon approaching. His face went hard and then when he didn't see the girl, his eyes narrowed and he went very still. Damon swanned up with two more books in his hand, "where's the girl?" he asked quietly, Damon raised an immaculate eyebrow. "Tasha has gone to get something to eat, poor girl was hungry and didn't have any money to buy anything with except that muffin. I gave her some money and she'll meet us by the fountain in the gardens. She gave me the other two so we could get started, but I see you've started without me brother. Tell me, is it as good as she says it is?"

Stefan snarled at his brother, "I know what you did to Elena, brother. You make me sick." Damon had the sense to look at the floor at the mention of her name, "you really do only look out for yourself don't you?" Stefan hissed.

Damon had had enough of this, "is that why I got her diary back from Caroline? Because I was looking out for myself? She didn't write about me brother, she wrote about you. Figure it out for yourself. Now I'm going out in the gardens to have a read, if you'd rather stay here that's fine by me but I'd like the book as I promised Tasha I'd sign it for her." Stefan looked shell shocked for a moment, "why?" he wasn't sure that he'd heard his brother correctly, Damon gave him a wolfish grin, "she asked me if I'd sign them for her as she I'm her favourite. Sweet isn't it? I think she has a bit of a crush on me."

"What do you intend to do about it? You're not going to take blood from her? Damon! She's twelve years old!" Stefan was horrified at the thought of his brother leading her on, at such a young age Tasha was easily impressionable. Damon glared at his brother for a minute and took a step closer to him so he was in Stefan's face, "I have no intention of doing anything about it. She's smart, a lot smarter than you are right now, give me the book Stefan. I've had enough of your remarks for one day." Stefan gave him the book and watched as his brother stormed off, he reached out with his mind and sought out Tasha. He wanted to know what was going on and he wanted to make sure she was okay, he followed it until he came to a café in the gardens, he could see her just finishing her meal, so he waited until she came out.

"Tasha. It's me" the girl spun round at the sound of her name and looked surprised to see him. "Oh hi Stefan! I thought I was meeting you two by the fountain?"

"I wanted to have a word without Damon being here." Her face fell and she looked for all the world as if she were about to get told off for something. They walked through the privy garden and he asked her what happened with Damon, she smiled and told him what he wanted to hear- she didn't invite him. "Stefan, I've read the books, I know he's dangerous and the invitation's good forever. I'm not that stupid!" she protested, he almost felt ashamed for asking her which amused him.

"So why's Damon signing your books for you?" She blushed and Stefan bit his lip to prevent himself for grinning, she really did have a crush on his brother. "I asked him to. I wasn't sure if you'd want to, but Damon knows I like him. He's not going to let me live it down." He couldn't help but laugh at that.

"You've inflated his ego, he's going to be unbearable now. But I'll sign your books for you." He winked at her and they walked through the gardens together to the fountain, neither said anything although Stefan knew that Tasha wanted to. It took him a bit to realise that she was probably quite shy, so he started off the conversation by asking how long she'd lived in the area. "I don't, my Dad's lived here for about a year. He split up from my Mum two years ago, I got sent over here because I was fighting with my sister and Dad said I could come and stay for a week to give Mum a break. It's a punishment for me because he works during the week, so does his wife," Stefan raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Ouch! So you got bored and decided to come here? Or are you doing this in history?"

"No, I wanted to come here to see it, my Mum's always taking me to see castles and things with English Heritage." Stefan was beginning to see why his brother liked this girl, "is your sister older or younger than you?" that earnt him a cheeky grin.

"Younger." He smiled at that and then decided that he'd show her that he wasn't as dull as he came across in her book.

"No wonder you're in league with my brother, if you find your little sister irritating. He feels the same way about me most of the time. Oh well, I thought that perhaps you and I were going to be good friends, but if you find younger siblings irritating then you might find me irritating as well." Stefan made a sad face and Tasha looked horrified, it was all he could do not to laugh, then just when he thought she was going to clam up and he'd made a horrible mistake she came out apologising. "I didn't mean that! I don't find you irritating at all Stefan!"

"But you like my brother better. Why is that? What has he got that I haven't?" He hadn't meant for that to come out, but it was too late now. "I like Damon better because he just seems more fun and I know that he's bad and dangerous but he loves you and he loved Elena as well."

Stefan's face dropped at the mention of her name, Tasha knew she shouldn't have said it but it just slipped out. Now she'd hurt Stefan, she was kicking herself right now for having such a big mouth.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm sorry." She said, earning an amazed look from Stefan.

"Why are you sorry? Tasha, you have nothing to be sorry about, it was my fault, I was winding you up." Stefan stopped and looked down at her, "I read the book and I didn't hit Damon, I was tempted but I didn't. I just miss Elena, I loved her so much and if wasn't for me none of this would have happened and she would have still been alive." He sighed and looked away, this was too much for Tasha, "but she wouldn't have changed a thing Stefan! Don't you see? She loved you and she'd do anything for you! If it weren't for you she would have still been a bitch who didn't care about anything else than being popular and fashionable." Stefan stared at her, then she saw his expression change so he looked determined and his eyes changed colour from the dark green they were a moment ago to a lighter more sparkly green, he was definitely gorgeous and Tasha decided that she loved his eyes best.

"You know what Tasha? You're right. She made me promise to look after Damon and I will. But today we're going to look after you and there might even be a chance for us to wind up my brother. Deal?" Stefan held out his hand, Tasha smiled and put her small hand in his, "deal." They shook on it and then laughing they made their way to the fountain where Damon was leaning against a tree looking bored, he seemed to brighten up when he saw Tasha and Stefan, Tasha wasn't sure if it was because of her or just because she might provide an opportunity for him to wind up Stefan even more.

"About time to! I was beginning to think you'd gone home," he said to Tasha, "no doubt you two have been having a cosy little chat about me?" his eyes narrowed as he looked at Stefan, Tasha jumped to Stefan's defence. "Actually we were talking about the books," Damon looked surprised and amused.

"Tasha was telling me that she's been sent over here for a week by her Mum, apparently she was fighting with her younger sister too much and her Dad offered to have her for a week as punishment."

Damon and Stefan looked at each other and then both burst out laughing. "Ah, sibling rivalry. There's nothing like it, is there brother?" Damon grinned at Stefan.

"My turn for the books I believe." Stefan said smoothly walking up to Damon and taking the books from him, Damon looked sideways at Tasha with narrowed eyes. Tasha suddenly remembered the money he gave her for the meal. "Oh, Damon! I have your change here, thank you for that," she started to rummage in her pocket but Damon waved a hand at her, "keep it. Buy something nice with it."

He was watching Stefan sign her books with interest, Stefan's reaction to whatever Damon had written had been to stare at his brother with surprise, Damon hadn't reacted at all, Tasha didn't know if that was good or bad. "Done," said Stefan proudly, then he turned to Damon and said "do we give them to her now? Or do we make her wait until later when she's home?" Tasha's mouth fell open in horror- there was no way she could wait that long to find out what they wrote! Damon flashed a grin in her direction, "that's a good question. But I think she'd burst if we made her wait any longer," both of them laughed and Tasha blushed. Stefan ruffled her hair and she made a tutting sound that prompted a remark from Damon about the fact she was sparky. "Go on then," encouraged Stefan, Tasha tentatively opened The Awakening and there on the title page was written 'To my new friend Tasha, thank you for brightening up a dull afternoon with your great company.

Your friend forever,

Damon Salvatore'

Stefan had written underneath 'To Tasha, thank you for being a friend and for cheering me up.

Your Friend

Stefan Salvatore'

Tasha looked up open mouthed at the vampires standing under the tree. "Oh wow, thank you so much! Both of you!" Both grinned at her with pleasure. "The other two just have the usual To Tasha love Damon," he shrugged, Stefan said nothing but was looking at his brother with an odd look on his face.

"Now, shall we start the tour? The longer it takes the more my brother's going to think about the necks on those geese," winked Damon, making Tasha laugh and grimace at the thought.

Stefan rolled his eyes at Tasha behind Damon's back but followed them anyway.

So the three of them went back into the Palace, Damon musing at the Georgian façade of the back of the palace, Stefan looking bored and saying that of course the palace would have changed if it were in constant use. Tasha could see that this was going to end in tears if she didn't do something about it, so she asked Stefan to hold her books and she ran off leaving them both staring after her in surprise.

Five minutes later she came back with a carrier bag looking triumphant, she produced a guide book to the palace and handed it to Damon. Stefan laughed at the surprised look on his brother's face, "it makes sense. You have to admit it," Damon looked at Tasha and sighed, "okay, okay, I get the hint!" but he didn't look that upset Tasha noticed.

So she followed them round the palace, Damon using the guide book for the "new parts" as he called them, much to Tasha's amusement. It was when they got to the Tudor parts that they went quiet, Damon not needing the guidebook gave it back to Tasha, they walked through the great hall and Damon looked up at the ceiling at winced. "Even in Elizabeths' time this was brightly coloured. The ceiling was gold and blue…" he trailed off.

Two costumed guides walked through, a man and a woman, in full Tudor costume talking away. Tasha watched them with interest as another man approached and proclaimed loudly that the King was bored and wished to see some merriment at 4 of the Clock, his majesty had asked that the Lady Anne organise it as her dancing skills were the best at court. The Lady Anne turned to the man and asked would her noble brother aide her?

The lady Anne's noble brother declared if it was his dear sister's wish then he would and instructed the messenger to run back to the king. "That would be Anne Boleyn and her brother George," whispered Stefan. Tasha jumped at the sound of his voice as she'd been wrapped up in looking at the actors, "oh, I thought they were husband and wife," she said feeling stupid.


	5. Chapter 5

Stefan gave her a startling look, "they were very close to each other, rumour has it a bit too close and he eventually got executed on the ground of treason and incest after she died." Tasha looked shocked and Stefan grinned, "court politics. Anne was tried for treason so the king did the same to her brother. End of the Boleyn's start of the Howards. Now you know why I stuck to books and art, slightly less dangerous," Tasha understood very well.

Just then my Lady Anne and my Lord George were asking the good people if they wished to participate in a dance to please the King, Tasha looked dismayed when the jester suddenly appeared with people in tow that he dragged from who knows where. He put them in the charge of my Lord and Lady Boleyn and then started running around the great hall trying to get people to join in a dance. Tasha looked dismayed when he started running towards them and tried to back away, thinking that if she got to Damon then she would either be safe or at least be able to escape the hall, but she hadn't countered on Stefan who told him yes and then took Tasha's hand so she wouldn't escape.

Damon was watching this with great amusement from the other end of the hall. The girl was watching the actors with fascination and when the Fool came in she tried to sneak off, right now she was throwing help me glances at him, but Damon had no intention of helping her. The help me glances soon became hostile which amused him even more, Stefan also seemed to think this was funny and when she broke away from his brother and headed over to him, his first thought was she's not going to join in. The Fool obviously thought so to as he ran after her, then when she reached him she turned to the Fool and said "I was getting another volunteer for you," with a big smile, the Fool tried to usher them to the rest of the group but Damon decided it was far better to watch until Tasha. feeling his resistance, turned to him and declared "if I have to do this thing then so do you!" What surprised him was the look in the girls' eyes, it reminded him very much of Elena, he realised with a pang. She was determined to have her own way and Damon found himself slightly worried that she'd have a screaming fit or something, so for the sake of peace and quiet he agreed and reluctantly joined his brother.

Lady Anne announced they would be doing a dance called the official branle, Damon and Stefan exchanged amused glances over the top of Tasha's head, which she wasn't best pleased about, but they listened patiently to the instructions which sounded easy enough, left- right together for about 15 beats and then a jump which meant you had to step on your left foot and hop on it while bring your right knee up and then placing your feet together.

They watched a brief demonstration and then everyone gathered boy-girl in a circle, watched on by Tudor musicians that had appeared. The Boleyns and the jester joined in and they began the dance slowly, Stefan and Damon were surprisingly light-footed and graceful, Tasha had to keep reminding herself that of course they would have done this dance many times when they were human.

After a couple of slow attempts the tempo was upped a bit but Tasha didn't find it much of a challenge, she heard Damon's voice in her head telling her that it should have a lift at the end but the people here were probably a bit too old for such a thing and she laughed at the image he sent her of him lifting her up and passing her to Stefan.

Soon afterwards the King and Queen arrived to check on things, they did it one more time for them and then the group was given the order to stop, the men had to bow to the lady next to them and the lady curtsy to the gentleman.

Damon straight away turned to Tasha and gave her a sweeping bow with his right hand over his heart and the left hand swept back and a smile that Tasha thought could melt ice. Tasha gave him the best curtsy she could with jeans on, casting her eyes on the floor and rising to meet Damon's coal black eyes lit up with those white lights, he laughed and told her that she was a natural dancer, Stefan came over and told her that he was impressed as well and not only with her dance. He'd seen her curtsy and was amused that she kept her eyes on the floor, "where on earth did you learn that?" he asked. Tasha grinned and then laughed at his expression when it dawned on him what she was talking about.

Damon and Stefan went rattling on about dance for the most of the time they were in the palace. Tasha's head was reeling with names such as the Galliard, the brawl (she wasn't sure what sort of dance that was supposed to be, but it sounded rough) the Pavanne and the Istanpita. For once, they were talking animatedly between themselves and laughing about the Galliard and how controversial it was with the high kicks.

Soon they were standing in Clock Court and the palace was due to shut in an hour. Tasha had no idea where the day had gone, it was a shame that they were going back to Florence the next day as she would have liked to spend more time with them, she hesitantly told them this and they both laughed, but Tasha caught the sadness in Stefan's eyes, the fun was over and there was only one thing on his mind- Elena.

"Ah, piccolina. We haven't had time to read the books, we'll have to get our own- or stay another day" Damon glanced sideways at Stefan who looked at Tasha's bulging carrier bag with something like dread.

"We'll read them tonight and have them back to you tomorrow morning, our flight's not until late anyway. We'll meet you here at say 10 O clock?" Tasha said okay, but Stefan noticed that she looked a little sad, but he ignored it, she had her own life to live and didn't need them in it. He was grateful for her company today though, he had to admit that it had taken his mind off things, for now anyway.

Until tonight, when you go back to the hotel and you read the books, his inner voice whispered to him. That's when all the misery and the love will come flooding back, you'll re-live everything including her death, can you cope with that? He slammed the thoughts away and smiled as Tasha gave them the books, Damon promised her a ride home.


	6. Chapter 6

So she climbed in the back of the Ferrari and perched on the back seat if you could call it that, so Stefan sat in the front. They drove back to her Dad's house within the speed limit she noticed, but she kept her mouth shut about Damon putting his foot down earlier, as she had a feeling Stefan wouldn't have been best pleased.

This time there was a parking space and Damon managed to squeeze the Ferrari in it, Stefan got out and helped her out. She said goodbye to Damon and then to Stefan, Stefan noticed that she looked at him with sadness and sorrow in her eyes, she knew what the night would bring but he was determined not to let her think that he would regret seeing her today and hearing about the books, so he winked at her and told her not to worry, "I haven't survived this long to be upset over a few teenage novels Tasha."

"I know, but even so, are you sure you want to read them?" Damon leant over and wound down the window of the passenger side. "He'll be fine piccolina! They're only books, are you coming brother?"

Stefan sighed at his brother's impatience, "see you tomorrow Tasha," she waved as Damon sped off down the road, then turned and let herself back into her Dad's house.

She shut the door and switched the lights on, she went to pull the curtains across when the Ferrari sped past with a toot, she laughed as it screeched to a stop at the top of the road and another car tooted him. She shut the curtains and made herself a cup of tea, then while the kettle was boiling she jumped around the kitchen squealing with delight.

That night when her father and his wife came home from work and asked about her day, she told them what a wonderful time she'd had at the Palace, she'd learnt a lot of history (true) and had managed some dancing (also true) and that was it (not true). Her Dad's wife gave her a look as if to tell Tasha that she knew there was more to it than that, but Tasha ignored her and was delighted when her Dad offered to take her to the cinema to see Back to The Future part 3 which she thought was okay but nothing fantastic, her Dad was laughing and joking with her when he came out, which was probably the most embarrassing thing that had happened all day bar none, at least meeting Damon and Stefan made up for it.

The next morning her Dad brought her up a cup of tea before he left for work at around 6am, as usual his wife had left slightly earlier and so shortly afterwards Tasha had the house to herself.

She hadn't been able to sleep that night, just the prospect of meeting Damon and Stefan again was enough excitement to keep her awake. She was still sure she liked Damon the best though, especially when he had mischief in his eyes, she was surprised he let her drag him in the dance yesterday. In fact, the more she thought about yesterday, the more surprised she was that he was so nice to her.

She drank her tea slowly, mulling it over in her mind from the warmth and comfort of her bed, but she still didn't know why and she couldn't exactly ask him. Perhaps it was because she flattered him, or perhaps it was because she stood up to him when she was talking about the Night World and let slip that clanger about Las Vegas and didn't let it slide.

Whatever the reason, she was just glad she hadn't upset him, unlike Stefan. Tasha loved the way the colour of his eyes changed and the way he looked after her yesterday, he had been very kind to her, then she remembered Damon giving her the money to get something to eat and telling her to keep the rest. She clambered out of bed, grabbed her jeans and counted out the rest of the money, she had exactly ten pounds left after she bought the guidebook and the meal yesterday, just enough for one or two books she thought to herself.

Tasha got out of bed a second time and pulled on her jeans, a t-shirt and finally a jumper, she took her cup downstairs and began to mix up some porridge for breakfast when she heard a knock at the door. She couldn't see anyone through the bay window so she ran across the open plan living room to the front door, she opened it a crack and was surprised to see Stefan on her doorstep.

"I wanted to talk to you about the books, I figured you'd have some questions," he looked sad and Tasha hated to see him so upset.

"Come in," was all she managed to say,

"I'm not disturbing your breakfast am I?" he asked as the microwave timer went off. "No, it'll be too hot at the moment, you're okay. Was it very bad?" she asked him, her eyes wide. He smiled a sad smile at her, "it hurt. I can't deny that, especially reading about the things that Damon did to her and the fact she couldn't tell me about them."

"But you know why she couldn't tell you, you'd have gone ape," Tasha said to him, Stefan looked at her confused for a second. "Going Ape. That means going mad?"

"Oh. Um, yeah." Tasha hadn't realised that he didn't know what it meant, good job to as the other word usually associated with it was a rude one. "Tell me Tasha, why do you like the books? Aside from Damon," even at the mention of his name Tasha broke into a grin, there really was no hope for her, Stefan realised. "It's just such a great book. I wasn't sure at first, I don't like romance books, but it's just really cool. I like the way at first it's about you and Elena fighting Damon, I loved the cliff-hanger at the end of The Awakening, I didn't even know I liked it that much 'till then. I mean, Damon's so bad doing those things to Elena and then I wanted Elena to tell you everything, but when she thought about it she couldn't because you'd go ape and if you fought Damon he'd kill you. But then Katherine came back and I was, like, Oh My God! I've heard that pigs flesh is the closest thing to human flesh, they've done tests on it to try and recreate SHC, so it made sense! And the way the owl kept getting mentioned, I knew there was something up with the owl and then right at the end it all made sense, the owl, the kitten, Elena's dream!" She was getting excited now, she was nearly shouting at him and the lack of sentencing. Stefan smiled a bit and told her to calm down, "what's SHC and what's it got to do with pig's flesh?"

"Oh, sorry. Spontaneous Human Combustion. I read a book with it in, it had a picture of this old woman's leg with tight and slipper still on it, but from the knee upwards the rest of her body had just burst into flames. They experimented on pig's flesh to see what sort of temperature was needed for the human body to combust and if it was caused by sitting too near an electric fire." Stefan raised any eyebrow at her, "you understood all that?"

"some of it," she confessed, Stefan looked at her long and hard. "Isn't your porridge getting cold Tasha?" She'd forgotten all about it, she'd been so busy talking to Stefan. So she went and got her porridge from the microwave, it was just about edible, so she took back with her and sat next to Stefan on the sofa.

He was looking at her Dad's books, while she threw the porridge down her neck. "Do you hate Katherine now?" She just came out with it, but she fully expected him to turn around and tell her that he didn't want to talk about it. "No, I don't hate Katherine. I don't think she was all there, I think she was too young when Klaus turned her into a vampire," cue the awkward silence. Finally Stefan asked her "why do you like my brother so much Tasha? You know what he's capable of doing, you said yourself he was bad."

Tasha shrugged, "I dunno, probably because he's so bad, you want to know what he's going to do next. I guessed right at the end that the other power was Katherine, but then Damon had disappeared and when Elena screamed his name I thought I'd got it wrong. I really like the fact that he was looking out for you by getting the diary back and he helped you at the end, he does love you and he loves Elena as well." Stefan smiled with a corner of his mouth, she was smart for her age, there was no doubt about it and he knew that she wouldn't forget the day she had with them for a very long time, if she forgot it at all.

"Come on you, it's nearly nine and we have to meet Damon at ten," he smiled at the girl who immediately stopped eating the gruel like substance that she called porridge and went to dispose of it in the kitchen, "what time's your flight?" she called out to him.

"two o clock, so we have to check in at half past eleven," she reappeared with a worried look on her face, "that's not a lot of time." There was another knock on the door, she went to answer it and Stefan could feel her surprise and joy at seeing Damon standing on the doorstep. "Indeed, there isn't going to be much time, so I thought I'd come early. You don't mind do you?" he smiled at her and Stefan heard her heart start to thump louder and faster, time to be going.

"Tasha and I were just getting to go, I'll meet you outside." Stefan told her with a meaningful look as he practically shoved Damon out of the house. Tasha sighed and hurriedly put on her baseball boots, she heard Damon telling Stefan to get his hands off him and that was the moment when she realised that Stefan really wanted to hurt Damon for what he'd done to Elena. In her mind that was all the more reason to get out there, so she scrambled to her feet, tucked her laces into her boots and slammed the front door shut. Both of them turned to stair at her as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, she shut the porch door and looked at them with a what are you staring at look, Damon opened the car door and pulled forward the passenger seat so Tasha got in, then he went round to his side of the car, leaving Stefan to push the passenger seat back by himself, glaring at Damon.

"Where are we going?" she asked as Damon fired the engine into life, "for a drive."

"Oh, cool, okay then." Damon wasn't saying anything, this is bad thought Tasha.

"I'm sorry if the books upset you. When I realised who you were yesterday, I was going to grab the book and run, but you got there first Damon." Damon glanced at her in the rear-view mirror.

"if it makes you happier Tasha then I can pretend I never met you, how about that?" ouch, she thought.

"Is that like yesterday Damon, when you pretended you didn't know anything about the Night World?" she retorted back, ignoring Stefan's plea to calm down. Damon pulled over to the side of the road and got out, he pushed the seat forward and Tasha knew for certain the fun was over. "Damon! Don't do this to her, it's not her fault so don't take it out on her!" called Stefan, but Damon wasn't listening.

"Go back home little girl. You've had your fun, now leave the grown ups to theirs." He snarled, Tasha couldn't help it, she blew her top at him.

"Why, are you going to threaten another five year old Damon? Or try and steal someone else's girlfriend?" Stefan looked shocked and horrified, Damon had her up against the car and she could clearly see his fangs. "If you were as smart as I thought then you'd keep your mouth shut!" Tasha's temper gave her the courage to stand up to him, "fine! I'm sorry I leant you the books, I'm sorry that Elena's dead and I'm sorry I ever met you!" Tasha tore herself away from Damon who was momentarily distracted by Stefan trying to prise him away from the girl and she took the opportunity to run away from them back towards her father's house, Stefan shoved his older brother against the car in frustration. "Well done brother! That girl trusted us and she hero worshipped you. She leant us the books and you repay her by threatening her?"

Damon opened his mouth to say something but Stefan snarled at him "I don't want to hear it Damon, I've got to go and clean up your mess!" Stefan took off after the girl, leaving his brother standing by his car. There was no sign of her when Stefan reached the house, his powers weren't strong enough to speak to her with his mind and although he knew she was in there she ignored his repeated knocking, he could hear her crying and he hated his brother for what he did to her.

Tasha laid on her bed and cried, she was so stupid to think he'd actually want to be her friend. Stupid, stupid Tasha!! She didn't even know why she was crying anyway, it was her fault for lending them the books in the first place.

There was a tapping sound at the window and she looked up to see a big crow standing on the windowsill, she threw her books at him in anger but the crow didn't move. _Open the window Tasha, I just want to talk to you_ came his voice in her head, so she got up and shut the curtain. But the tapping continued and the voice came again _just open the window. I'm not going to hurt you. _

"Tasha!" came a faint voice from downstairs, Stefan, she thought. "Leave me alone!" she yelled at Damon.

Just then she heard the sound of the lean to door scraping on the drain cover, it wouldn't close properly and she suddenly remembered that she'd left the back door unlocked. She ran downstairs and flew into the kitchen to find Stefan closing the door behind him. "I wanted to make sure that you were okay! He shouldn't have said those things to you, but you shouldn't have lost your temper with him either!" he scolded, then as soon as he realised she about to cry again, he quickly added; "I'm sorry Tasha, it's not your fault. We're just not the best people to be around at the minute." Tasha nodded, wiping her tears away with her sleeve.

"Is someone going to invite me in? Or do I have to stand out here while you two have a cosy chat?" Came Damon's voice from outside. "You have to stand out there, there's no way I'm letting you in now." Tasha yelled, Stefan told her to not to aggravate matters even more and he managed to persuade her to step out into the lean to where Damon was waiting outside, "it's alright Tasha, he wants to apologise to you, that's all," he said.

Tasha gave Stefan a sarcastic look and refused to go any further than the kitchen doorstep, "I'm not stupid Stefan, your brother never apologises to anyone, I don't trust him." Stefan sighed, this was going to be very hard.

Damon and Stefan glared at each other before Damon's mouth turned into a sneer, Tasha knew Damon could hear what Stefan was saying and that they were having something similar to a conversation in their heads and over her. She also knew that it was about her and she didn't like the sneer that Damon had on his face, "it's fine Stefan, he doesn't have to do anything except to go away. They're stupid kids books anyway." she mumbled causing both pairs of eyebrows to shoot up, "don't be stupid. You're not fooling anyone but yourself Tasha, my brother's right for once in his miserable life. It's not your fault- there, I've said it. Now the dramatics are over and done with are we still going for a drive? Or did you want to stay here all day?"


	7. Chapter 7

He was looking at her Dad's books, while she threw the porridge down her neck. "Do you hate Katherine now?" She just came out with it, but she fully expected him to turn around and tell her that he didn't want to talk about it. "No, I don't hate Katherine. I don't think she was all there, I think she was too young when Klaus turned her into a vampire," cue the awkward silence. Finally Stefan asked her "why do you like my brother so much Tasha? You know what he's capable of doing, you said yourself he was bad."

Tasha shrugged, "I dunno, probably because he's so bad, you want to know what he's going to do next. I guessed right at the end that the other power was Katherine, but then Damon had disappeared and when Elena screamed his name I thought I'd got it wrong. I really like the fact that he was looking out for you by getting the diary back and he helped you at the end, he does love you and he loves Elena as well." Stefan smiled with a corner of his mouth, she was smart for her age, there was no doubt about it and he knew that she wouldn't forget the day she had with them for a very long time, if she forgot it at all.

"Come on you, it's nearly nine and we have to meet Damon at ten," he smiled at the girl who immediately stopped eating the gruel like substance that she called porridge and went to dispose of it in the kitchen, "what time's your flight?" she called out to him.

"two o clock, so we have to check in at half past eleven," she reappeared with a worried look on her face, "that's not a lot of time." There was another knock on the door, she went to answer it and Stefan could feel her surprise and joy at seeing Damon standing on the doorstep. "Indeed, there isn't going to be much time, so I thought I'd come early. You don't mind do you?" he smiled at her and Stefan heard her heart start to thump louder and faster, time to be going.

"Tasha and I were just getting to go, I'll meet you outside." Stefan told her with a meaningful look as he practically shoved Damon out of the house. Tasha sighed and hurriedly put on her baseball boots, she heard Damon telling Stefan to get his hands off him and that was the moment when she realised that Stefan really wanted to hurt Damon for what he'd done to Elena. In her mind that was all the more reason to get out there, so she scrambled to her feet, tucked her laces into her boots and slammed the front door shut. Both of them turned to stair at her as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, she shut the porch door and looked at them with a what are you staring at look, Damon opened the car door and pulled forward the passenger seat so Tasha got in, then he went round to his side of the car, leaving Stefan to push the passenger seat back by himself, glaring at Damon.

"Where are we going?" she asked as Damon fired the engine into life, "for a drive."

"Oh, cool, okay then." Damon wasn't saying anything, this is bad thought Tasha.

"I'm sorry if the books upset you. When I realised who you were yesterday, I was going to grab the book and run, but you got there first Damon." Damon glanced at her in the rear-view mirror.

"if it makes you happier Tasha then I can pretend I never met you, how about that?" ouch, she thought.

"Is that like yesterday Damon, when you pretended you didn't know anything about the Night World?" she retorted back, ignoring Stefan's plea to calm down. Damon pulled over to the side of the road and got out, he pushed the seat forward and Tasha knew for certain the fun was over. "Damon! Don't do this to her, it's not her fault so don't take it out on her!" called Stefan, but Damon wasn't listening.

"Go back home little girl. You've had your fun, now leave the grown ups to theirs." He snarled, Tasha couldn't help it, she blew her top at him.

"Why, are you going to threaten another five year old Damon? Or try and steal someone else's girlfriend?" Stefan looked shocked and horrified, Damon had her up against the car and she could clearly see his fangs. "If you were as smart as I thought then you'd keep your mouth shut!" Tasha's temper gave her the courage to stand up to him, "fine! I'm sorry I leant you the books, I'm sorry that Elena's dead and I'm sorry I ever met you!" Tasha tore herself away from Damon who was momentarily distracted by Stefan trying to prise him away from the girl and she took the opportunity to run away from them back towards her father's house, Stefan shoved his older brother against the car in frustration. "Well done brother! That girl trusted us and she hero worshipped you. She leant us the books and you repay her by threatening her?"

Damon opened his mouth to say something but Stefan snarled at him "I don't want to hear it Damon, I've got to go and clean up your mess!" Stefan took off after the girl, leaving his brother standing by his car. There was no sign of her when Stefan reached the house, his powers weren't strong enough to speak to her with his mind and although he knew she was in there she ignored his repeated knocking, he could hear her crying and he hated his brother for what he did to her.

Tasha laid on her bed and cried, she was so stupid to think he'd actually want to be her friend. Stupid, stupid Tasha! She didn't even know why she was crying anyway, it was her fault for lending them the books in the first place.

There was a tapping sound at the window and she looked up to see a big crow standing on the windowsill, she threw her books at him in anger but the crow didn't move. _Open the window Tasha, I just want to talk to you_ came his voice in her head, so she got up and shut the curtain. But the tapping continued and the voice came again _just open the window. I'm not going to hurt you. _

"Tasha!" came a faint voice from downstairs, Stefan, she thought. "Leave me alone!" she yelled at Damon.

Just then she heard the sound of the lean to door scraping on the drain cover, it wouldn't close properly and she suddenly remembered that she'd left the back door unlocked. She ran downstairs and flew into the kitchen to find Stefan closing the door behind him. "I wanted to make sure that you were okay! He shouldn't have said those things to you, but you shouldn't have lost your temper with him either!" he scolded, then as soon as he realised she about to cry again, he quickly added; "I'm sorry Tasha, it's not your fault. We're just not the best people to be around at the minute." Tasha nodded, wiping her tears away with her sleeve.


	8. Chapter 8

"Is someone going to invite me in? Or do I have to stand out here while you two have a cosy chat?" Came Damon's voice from outside. "You have to stand out there, there's no way I'm letting you in now." Tasha yelled, Stefan told her to not to aggravate matters even more and he managed to persuade her to step into the kitchen, Damon was waiting in the lean to for them. "It's alright Tasha, he wants to apologise to you, that's all," he said.

Tasha gave Stefan a sarcastic look and refused to go any further than the kitchen doorstep, "I'm not stupid Stefan, your brother never apologises to anyone, I don't trust him." Stefan sighed, this was going to be very hard.

Damon and Stefan glared at each other before Damon's mouth turned into a sneer, Tasha knew Damon could hear what Stefan was saying and that they were having something similar to a conversation in their heads and over her. She also knew that it was about her and she didn't like the sneer that Damon had on his face, "it's fine Stefan, he doesn't have to do anything except to go away. They're stupid kids books anyway." she mumbled causing both pairs of eyebrows to shoot up, "don't be stupid. You're not fooling anyone but yourself Tasha, my brother's right for once in his miserable life. It's not your fault- there, I've said it. Now the dramatics are over and done with are we still going for a drive? Or did you want to stay here all day?"

"Come on Tasha, come for a drive with us. We haven't got long left, I promise Damon won't do anything to hurt you." Said Stefan, Tasha wasn't sure what to do.

"Piccolina, for me to grab you the way I did was wrong. I'll admit that, if you won't let me in then come out here, I won't hurt you, I promise." Tasha stepped gingerly into the lean to, Damon leant down and tapped his head, Tasha realised that he was going to say something to her with his telepathic powers, so she nodded.

_Tasha, I'm sorry for what I did. I know it was unforgivable for me to loose my temper with a girl, but you have to understand that the books you leant us opened all the raw feelings that we have about each other, Katherine and Elena. You're too young to understand what it's like to loose someone that you love, I hope you never have to know that. _Tasha just stared at Damon, he winked at her and put his finger on her lips. "I have a fan, I can't disappoint her now, can I?" He flashed her a wolfish grin and she blushed furiously red, making him laugh which made her blush even more. "I'll meet you out the front," she said as she tried to shove past Stefan, who had gone away and come back to find his brother laughing and Tasha trying to escape. He was just about to ask Damon what he'd done to her when he saw Tasha's reddening face, he understood suddenly and tried unsuccessfully to fight back the laughter, "don't you start!" she said. Stefan stopped and grinned at her, "couldn't help it, sorry. So the drive's still on?"

Tasha opened the front door, "okay, you can come in." Damon looked at her with surprise, "I've just decided and besides, we don't have time for any drives if you have to be at the airport for eleven thirty." Stefan looked at the clock in the kitchen, it was ten o clock so they had an hour, the girl was right, then he saw Damon pull something out of his pocket.

"I thought that perhaps you might want a little more than a signature on a bit of paper- say cheese brother!" Before Stefan could say anything, Damon took a picture of him with the disposable camera that had an automatic flash. The flash went off leaving Stefan and Tasha slightly blinded, "Damon! That hurt my eyes! My turn I think." Stefan took the camera from his brother and took a picture of him- flash! Damon hissed as the light blinded him and glared at Stefan.

"Okay, why don't we go to the park then? It's literally just up the road." Damon and Stefan stared at her, then there was a mad scramble to get out. Tasha was the first out followed by Damon, but only by a hairs' breadth and only because he used his powers, she ran after them and into the park. Stefan tossed her the camera and she took a picture of him, then Damon, then Damon and Stefan.

Stefan offered to take some of her and Damon, who agreed too readily for Tasha's liking and she half expected him to make a silly gesture, with his hands behind her head.

Then Damon got to take a couple of pictures of her with Stefan, although he offered to take Stefan's picture standing next to a deer which earnt him a thump from Tasha, who had grown bolder with the excitement.

Suddenly something made Tasha look at the watch with the broken strap that she had tucked away in jeans. She always forgot about it, it was showing as half past ten already where had the time gone?

She didn't know how long it would take them to get to the airport but at least they seemed to be having a good time snatching the camera off one another- boys! They were the reason why she went to all girls school, they could be horrible sometimes and just stupid the rest, right now they were being stupid and if Stefan stepped back any further he'd go into the ditch.

"Stefan! Don't…" he stepped back, "step back," she trailed off. She tried to hide her eyes in her hands but couldn't resist a peak when she didn't hear the splash of water. Thanks to his vampire reactions he'd managed to save himself, Damon laughed and Tasha couldn't help but giggle as well, Stefan didn't look overly happy but didn't say anything.

"Um, what time do you need to leave to go to the airport? Because it's half ten now." Stefan looked at Damon, who put the camera down for a second, "we do need to leave now as I need to return the car. We'll walk you back." Tasha didn't argue that it was only two minutes down the road, she was glad she got to spend a little bit more time with them. Damon gave her the camera and she saw it had five shots left, so she used most of them up on pictures of Damon and Stefan posing by an old dead tree, looking very moody and then the last two were of Damon and Stefan and their fangs- as suggested by Damon who winked at her when he suggested it.

Stefan looked a bit shocked but when he saw Tasha going red he just smiled and kept his mouth shut, he guessed Tasha must have thought about getting a picture of their teeth and Damon had taken it from her thoughts.


	9. Chapter 9

"All done!" she called as she wound the camera on, "that was the last shot, I'm so going to get these processed." Both Stefan and Damon smiled at her enthusiasm, it was a refreshing change and with a pang of sadness Stefan thought how she reminded him a bit of Bonnie.

Soon they were outside her Dad's house, Stefan really hoped that she wouldn't start crying as he couldn't deal with crying females.

"Arrivederci, Piccolina. Do I get a hug?" Damon asked and a second later a slightly apprehensive Tasha stepped forward to get a hug, Damon not only giving her a hug but lifting her up in the air, much to her chagrin. Damon laughed and set her back down, Stefan stepped in and hugged her warmly, he was surprised she hugged him so tightly and much to his surprise they were both reluctant to let go.

"Take care and have a safe flight won't you?" Stefan smiled, out of the corner of his eye he saw his brother grinning like a madman, then in the middle of the road Damon took off his jacket and tossed it to his brother. Tasha looked as shocked and puzzled as Stefan, when Damon took his sweater off Stefan opened his mouth to say something but Damon threw it to Tasha who just about caught it. "A small memento Piccolina, the biggest fans are the ones who own something personal of their heroes. Now you have something of mine, keep it safe."

Tasha was dumbstruck, Stefan was as well, especially when Tasha whispered thank you and threw herself at Damon who laughed and hugged her back. Stefan thought to himself that perhaps he might have his brother wrong, after all these centuries he was starting to see a slightly softer side to his brother that he hadn't seen before. He wasn't sure if it was Elena or Tasha or both he had to thank, but he liked it.

Tasha stood and watched as the Ferrari sped off down the road, she waved even though she couldn't tell if they waved back as the windows were blacked out. She went back inside the house and sighed, it was over, all the fun she'd had yesterday and the drama this morning as Damon had called it was over and she felt the gaping hole in her life again just as clearly as when her parents split two years ago. Damon had been wrong about loosing someone that you loved, she'd lost her Dad just in a different way.

She hugged the jumper that Damon had given her, it smelled of his cologne. The bay window didn't have any net curtains and a few people walking past looked in, so Tasha took the jumper and camera upstairs to the spare room where she'd been sleeping, she took another whiff of Damon's jumper, it smelt so good! She squealed and then jumped up and down, round and round crying "oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Joe McIntyre from New Kids On The Block had instantly been replaced with Damon Salvatore.

Suddenly she hit on idea, she grabbed the camera and ran out of the house where she took the next bus into town and straight into the Chemists where she got it developed in one hour with some of the money that Damon had given her and then took the next bus back home where she spent all day staring at the photos, until it was time for her Dad to come home.

Whatever went on in her life, Tasha was certain that she'd never forget her day with Damon and Stefan Salvatore.


End file.
